Pine Technical College
Policy and Procedure

Policy Number: 506 Date: December 2, 2002 Revision Date:
Division/Department: Human Resource Author: Katherine Dettinger
Subject: Reasonable Accommodations in Employment

Authorities:
Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) Board Procedure 1.B.0.1

Purpose:
This procedure sets forth the process to be used for responding to requests for reasonable accommodations in employment based on an applicant’s or employee’s disability. The scope of this procedure is limited to reasonable accommodations and is not intended to fully describe other provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act or the Minnesota Human Rights Act.

Policy:
It is the policy of MnSCU to encourage the employment and promotion of any qualified individual, including qualified individuals with disabilities. The College will not discriminate in providing reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities in regard to job application procedures, hiring, advancement, discharge, employee compensation, job training, or other terms, conditions, and privileges of employment.

Definitions
For purposes of this procedure, the following terms have the meaning given them.

Employer: The employer is the Office of the Chancellor, College, or University.

Essential Functions: Essential functions are the fundamental job duties of the position in question. The term does not include the marginal functions of the position.

A job function may be considered essential for any of several reasons, including but not limited to the following:

• The function may be essential because the reason the position exists is to perform that function;
  
• The function may be essential because of the limited number of employees available among whom the performance of that job function can be distributed; and/or
  
• The function may be highly specialized so that the incumbent in the position is hired for his or her expertise or ability to perform the particular function.

• The employer’s judgment as to which functions are essential;
  
• Written job descriptions;
  
• The amount of time spent on the job performing the function;
  
• The consequences of not requiring the incumbent to perform the function;
  
• The terms of a collective bargaining agreement;
  
• The work experience of past incumbents in the job; and/or
  
• The current work experience of incumbents in similar jobs.
  

• The accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the College;
  
• The individual with a disability, with or without reasonable accommodations, is not qualified to perform the essential functions of that particular job; or
• Having the individual in the job would create a direct threat because of a significant risk to the health and safety of the individual or others and the risk cannot by eliminated by reasonable accommodation.
  

• The nature and net cost of the accommodation needed;
  
• The overall financial resources of the employer involved in the provision of the reasonable accommodation, the number of persons employed, and the effect on expenses and resources;
  
• The overall financial resources of the employer, the overall size of the business of the employer with respect to the number of its employees, and the number, type, and location of its facilities;
  
• The type of operation or operations of the employer, including the composition, structure, and functions of the workforce, and the geographic separateness and administrative or fiscal relationship of the employer in question to the covered entity; and
  
• The impact of the accommodation upon the operation of the employer, including the impact on the ability of other employees to perform their duties and the impact on the employer’s ability to conduct business.